Type: Red

Vintage: 2019

Grape Variety: Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Granache

Country: Italy

Region: Sicily

Nerello Mascalese 80%, Nerello Cappuccio 10%, Granache 10%. Only in some vintages, this special wine is produced from the oldest (centenary) vines in the vineyards that supply the Vinupetra, Vigna Calderara. These vines are in a stony 0.2-hectare section in this cru, many still ungrafted, and Salvo Foti believes that some may be over 250 years old. Give this wine some time in the glass; dried flowers and spices are combined with ripe plums, and wild herbs. The texture is very smooth, yet the balance is precise with just the right amount of lift provided by the acidity. This stunning wine is enjoyable now, but will grow more expressive with a few years in the cellar.

On the 2017 vintage:
"The 2017 Etna Rosso Vinupetra Viti Centenario is impossible to ignore. From the first tilt of the glass, I'm left contemplating the depths of aromas presented to me. Dark, rich, deep, herbal, floral and with masses of fruit that's sometimes black cherries, at other times plums and still at other times, overripe strawberries. Further swirling brings forward balsamic spice and tobacco, as I'm suddenly reminded that I'm to sip, not just smell, this beguiling wine. This impresses further with textures like crushed velvet offset by sour citrus and wild berries, yet still remarkably silky and pliant, seeming to soothe all that it touches while leaving a black tea-like concentration and fine tannins that encase yet fail to clench the palate. This experience goes on and on throughout the finale, as the Vinupetra tapers off savory with brown spices offset by hints of mint. This is a thrill-ride of a wine that combines the power but also resilience of its old vines with the dry and warm conditions of the vintage. It's an experience, to say the least."
96 pts, Eric Guido, Vinous, June 2022